I recently broke out my old camcorder (after >5 years in storage) - hoping to transfer some of the 30 + 8mm tapes - and found it didn't work - here's the transcript of my contact w/ Sony. I'm thinking about buying a cheap 8mm camera from ebay to do the transfer.
I vaguely remember having some issues with the camera when I put it in storage & purchased a digital hard drive camcorder - but the problem now seems to be when I turn it on, i hear squealing for a couple of seconds - then get the "trouble has occurred" indicator and beeping (it looks like a solid triangle with a line under it). I tried powering off & on several times, hoping it would unstick - but no luck. It appears that the tape is not moving. I tried a different tape & a brand new tape - same result. tried leaving it powered on all night, but that didn't do anything either. Sony says it could be the head or a motor - either way, it's too expensive to repair - and a sony video walkman he suggested was way out of line for what I want to do ... Sony Video Walkman GVD800 costs $999.00 and the GVD1000 costs $1,300.99. (per Daniel of sony support). Anyone have similar experiences with this model of handycam?